Stone The Crows! Are You Speaking English?

A brief guide to Australian slang terms you might need

Photo by David Clode on Unsplash

Often when you’re reading novels written by writers in other countries, the local slang can get quite confusing! Even between Australia and New Zealand, we have slang mix-ups. The Kiwis can’t understand why Australians call their footwear thongs. Aren’t thongs a kind of underwear? Kiwis call those jandals (in other places they’re called flip-flops). As for the cooler chests you take to the beach or barbecues, the Kiwis call them chilly bins and the Aussies call them Eskies. (And don’t get me started on bum bags and fanny packs and …)

So here’s a list of some Australian slang you might come across, along with (hopefully) sensible explanations.

Get in a blue — get into a fight (usually at a pub or a party).

Stone the crows! — an expression of astonishment.

Tinny — not a can of beer. It’s what you call a small aluminium dinghy you go out in for fishing. “I’ll put the tinny on the trailer and head out to the coast.”

Go right off — no, not veering around the corner. It’s someone losing their temper.

Pack a sad — sulking. “I told him what I thought and he packed a sad about it.”